Published by Roaring Brook Press

Summary:  A girl looks at the colors in her crayon box and in a rainbow, and realizes there’s no black in rainbows.  But her color is black, and she looks at what else is black: a feather in the snow, her best friend’s hair, her bicycle tires.  From there, she moves to the black in Black culture: Thurgood Marshall’s robe, birds in cages that sing, raisins and dreams left out in the sun to die.  Finally, she moves on to the history, family, memory, and love that are all part of her and her community. “So you see, there is no black in rainbows.  No black in green or blue.  But in my box of crayons, Black is a rainbow, too.”  Includes an author’s note; a playlist of 11 songs; two pages with further information on some of the allusions in the main text; 3 poems; a timeline of black ethnonyms (words that have been used to refer to Black people) over the course of American history; and a bibliography.  40 pages; ages 4 and up.

Pros:  This beautiful poem with its stunning illustrations (they reminded me of stained glass) is a deceptively simple introduction to Black culture and history.

Cons:  Most sources recommend this book for ages 4-8, but the references in the main text and the extensive back matter could make this a useful resource for any age and would be even more meaningful for older kids.

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Published by Alazar Press

Summary:  Eloise Greenfield kicks things off with a five-page introduction giving a brief history of midwives, starting in Africa a few hundred years ago, traveling to slavery in America, and finishing up with midwives today.  This section is illustrated with black and white photographs. The rest of the book is her poetry, celebrating midwives of the past and present. There are seven poems altogether, from “Africa to America” to “After Emancipation, 1863” to “The Early 2000s”.  The final piece, “Miss Rovenia Mayo” is about the midwife who “caught” Eloise Greenfield on May 17, 1929. Includes a bibliography. 32 pages; grades 3-7.

Pros:  We should all hope to be producing works of art like this at the age of 90.  The poetry is lyrical and the illustrations are unique and fascinating. The Caldecott committee can add this to its list of works to consider, along with another Daniel Minter book, Going Down Home With Daddy.

Cons:  This doesn’t seem like a book most kids will pick up on their own. 

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